Analysis

Henry Darger's Landlord Saved His Art. But Who Owns It?

By Ivan Moreno

The fate of the extraordinary body of artwork Henry Darger created over decades living alone in a rented Chicago room may depend in part on the meaning of a few words attributed to him shortly before he died in 1973 — a question now scheduled for a federal jury trial in March.

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Raoul Remains Illinois' Attorney General

By Lauraann Wood

Illinois voters allowed Attorney General Kwame Raoul to remain the state's top legal officer on Tuesday, reelecting the Democrat to serve his third term in the post.

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OppFi Pulls $130M BNC Bank Bid, Citing Review Uncertainty

By Jon Hill

Online lender Opportunity Financial said Tuesday it was withdrawing its applications for a planned $130 million purchase of BNC National Bank, calling off its bid to become a bank amid what it described as unclear regulatory standards and other obstacles to approval.

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John Deere Can't Escape Ex-Workers' Severance Fight

By Kellie Mejdrich

Former John Deere workers alleging the company manipulated performance ratings to reduce severance payouts advanced their proposed class action to discovery, convincing an Illinois federal judge that the alleged conduct sufficiently stated a claim for violating federal benefits law.

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Ill. Panel Upholds Felony Conviction Gun Ban

By Parker Quinlan

An Illinois state appeals court has found that a handgun recovered by police during a traffic stop could be used to convict a man for unlawful possession of a firearm by someone with a prior felony conviction, and that the state law invoked to convict him on the gun charge did not violate his constitutional rights.

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Ohio Voters Limit Data Centers In Ballot Question Test

By Nate Beck

In Tuesday Ohio ballot questions, voters broadly opposed building new data center projects, including those for Amazon and Meta, in an electoral test for the buildout of artificial intelligence infrastructure.

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Dems Interrogate McDonald's CEO On AI-Driven Pricing

By Hailey Konnath

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Becca Balint and other Democrats sent a letter to McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski, pressing him on the company's use of artificial intelligence-driven pricing recommendations and how it assesses potential harm to consumers and competition.

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AI Co. Suno Seeks Toss Of Musicians' Claims It Copies Styles

By Ben Adlin

Artificial intelligence music service Suno Inc. urged a Massachusetts federal judge to throw out a proposed class action accusing the company of copying musicians' identifying attributes, arguing that U.S. copyright law does not protect a musician's artistic style.

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Mass. Judge Nixes Feds' Bid To Stay Grant Termination Ruling

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday rejected the Trump administration's request to stay her judgment that it cannot terminate already-awarded federal grants based solely on the president's current priorities, and chided the government for intentionally slow-walking the case.

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Indiana Targeted Unionized Teachers' Speech, 7th Circ. Says

By Katherine Smith

The Seventh Circuit upheld a federal judge's decision to block two Indiana state laws changing how teachers authorize unions to receive a portion of their wages, finding that the laws violated the First Amendment by specifically targeting teachers who wanted to join a union and pay dues.

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10 Ways AI Labs Can Limit Antitrust Risks Of Safety Pacts

The OpenAI CEO’s recent call for artificial intelligence laboratories to collectively slow development to allow safety research to catch up invites antitrust scrutiny, but the risks to coordinating competitors can be managed by carefully structuring pacing agreements and layering their approach to compliance, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

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Approach The Bench: Judge Wilson On Trial By Zoom

By Cara Bayles and Kelley Marcano

Before she became a state court judge in Washington, Judge Coreen Wilson worked as a trial attorney litigating hundreds of cases, including the country's first binding virtual civil jury trial during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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DOJ Says Trump Adviser Needn't Answer ABA Subpoenas Yet

By Jared Foretek

The U.S. Department of Justice is arguing that Trump attorney Boris Epshteyn shouldn't have to respond to subpoenas from the American Bar Association in its challenge to the Trump administration's campaign against law firms until the presiding judge rules on the administration's preexisting motion to quash them.

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Judge Questions Federal Role In Ed Martin Ethics Case

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge struggled Tuesday to see how he could preside over a state attorney ethics proceeding if U.S. pardon attorney Ed Martin gets his way and keeps the case in federal court, as the city's ethics board fought to have it sent back to state court.

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Brownstein Hyatt Faces Suit Over Flawed Cannabis Co. Deal

By Rachel Konieczny

A Colorado real estate developer and his company alleged that Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck LLP negligently drafted their settlement agreement in a dispute with members of cannabis dispensary chain Native Roots over a sale of the chain's entities, resulting in a roughly $100 million arbitration award against the developer's company.

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Texas Atty Seeks Release In Cyberstalking Case

By Lynn LaRowe

A Texas lawyer who is expected to plead guilty in a cyberstalking case involving BigLaw firm attorneys is asking a federal court to free her, saying circumstances are "materially different" because of mental health treatment she has received while behind bars.

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Adult Daycare Pushes To Revive Suit Against Fox Rothschild

By Rose Krebs

An adult daycare company is asking a New Jersey state court to undo the toss of its suit against Fox Rothschild LLP and one of its attorneys, saying the dismissal was in error because the business had sought more time to respond to a dismissal motion.

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Volunteer Exits Malicious Prosecution Suit Naming DLA Piper

By Craig Clough

A Los Angeles judge on Tuesday tossed a malicious prosecution claim against a former volunteer for Breaking Code Silence on free speech grounds, even as he called the broader case against DLA Piper and the nonprofit "stronger than most."

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Ashurst Perkins ICap Suit Stayed Amid Bankruptcy Fight

By Ben Adlin

A Washington state judge has agreed to freeze a lawsuit accusing law firm Ashurst Perkins Coie of aiding and abetting a nearly $230 million Ponzi scheme, ordering the King County Superior Court litigation be put on hold pending an outcome in a related bankruptcy dispute.

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of October

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires during the past month included high-profile appointments at Fox, Dell and LinkedIn. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from October.

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